Practical guidance on the submission of applications on additives, enzymes and flavourings

Version 11

Updated on 10 February 2016


Practical guidance for applicants on the submission of applications on food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings

Valid as of 10 February 2016

Disclaimer: This document is not legally binding and it is updated, where necessary. Therefore, the applicants are advised to check the DG SANTE website regularly

Table of contents

1 Introduction 3

1.1 Purpose 3

1.2 Scope 3

1.3 Particularities of the sectoral food law 4

2 Authorisation procedure 4

2.1 Application 4

2.1.1 Accompanying letter 4

2.1.2 Technical dossier 5

2.1.2.1 Administrative data 5

2.1.2.2 Risk assessment data 5

2.1.2.3 Risk management data 7

2.1.3 Summary of the dossier 7

2.1.4 Public summary of the dossier 8

2.1.5 Checklist 8

2.1.6 CD/DVD 8

2.1.7 List of parts of the dossier requested to be treated as confidential 8

2.1.8 Submission of an application 8

2.2 What happens after an application has been submitted? 9

2.2.1 Acknowledgement of receipt 9

2.2.2 Validity check 9

2.2.3 Risk assessment 10

2.2.4 Risk management and updating the Union list 10

3 Annexes 11

3.1 Checklists 11

3.1.1 Checklist for food additive applications 12

3.1.2 Checklist for food enzyme applications 15

3.1.3 Checklist for food flavouring applications 17

3.2 References 19

3.2.1 General references 19

3.2.2 Food additives 19

3.2.3 Food enzymes 19

3.2.4 Food flavourings 19

3.3 The most common drawbacks of the applications received 20

3.4 Changes introduced in the updated versions 21

1Introduction

On 16 December 2008 a legislative package of four Regulations was adopted by the European Parliament and Council. The package is consisting of three sectoral food Regulations on so-called "food improvement agents" (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives, Regulation (EC) No 1332/2008 on food enzymes amended by Regulation (EU) No 1056/2011, and Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 on food flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties) and a common procedure for the evaluation and authorisation of these substances (Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008).

Following the requirements of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008 the Commission adopted Regulation (EU) No 234/2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008. This Regulation concerns the content, drafting and presentation of applications to establish or update the Union lists of food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings, the arrangements for checking the validity of applications and the type of information that must be included in the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In the context of food enzymes, Regulation (EU) No 234/2011 has been amended by Regulation (EU) No 562/2012 in relation to the derogation from submitting toxicological data in some specific cases and the possibility of grouping food enzymes under one application under certain conditions.

Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011 requires the applicant to take into account the practical guidance on the submission of applications made available by the Commission on Directorate General for Health and Food Safety website.

1.1Purpose

The objective of this guidance is to provide applicants with practical information which aims at facilitating the preparation and submission of applications for establishing or updating (adding, removing or changing conditions, specifications or restrictions) the Union lists falling under the sectoral food Regulations.

This guidance further clarifies the type of requested information and data that are to be included in an application file (referred to as "dossier") and it lists a number of documents (EU legislation, EFSA guidance, etc.) which have to be followed when preparing the dossier (see chapter "References" with hyperlinks). It provides also a brief description of the various stages of the authorisation procedure.

1.2Scope

The guidance applies to applications falling under the scope of Regulations (EC) No 1332/2008, 1333/2008 and 1334/2008 (it does not apply to smoke flavourings).

For the purpose of this guidance "an applicant" shall mean any entity (e.g. food business operators, industry associations, consultancy companies, etc.), no matter whether situated within or outside the EU, which is interested in submitting an application.

1.3Particularities of the sectoral food law

This guidance contains separate subchapters on additives, enzymes and flavourings since for some aspects the specific characteristics of different substances have to be taken into consideration in order to verify that the use of the substances complies with the conditions as provided in the respective sectoral food laws.

2Authorisation procedure

The procedural aspects concerning authorisation procedure are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008 and further elaborated in Regulation (EU) No 234/2011. The time limits established in Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008 for various stages of the common Union assessment and authorisation procedure apply at present time for food additives and food flavourings. Regarding food enzymes these time limits will be valid once the Union list of enzymes is established and applied.

Applicants are required to acquaint themselves with the above mentioned Regulations as well as with other documents listed in the chapter "References" of this guidance.

2.1Application

An application ("dossier") shall consist of:

• 
  an accompanying letter;
  
• 
  a technical dossier;
  
• 
  a summary of the dossier;
  
• 
  a public summary of the dossier;
  
• 
  a separate copy of administrative data of applicant(s) from technical dossier
  
• 
  a checklist;
  
• 
  2x CD/DVD containing copies of all documents mentioned above in electronic format.
  

In addition to the above requirements, if the applicant requests that some parts of the dossier are to be treated as confidential (see also chapter 2.1.7) then the application shall include also:

• 
  a list of parts of the dossier requested to be treated as confidential;
  
• 
  a verifiable justification for each part for which a confidential treatment is required;
  
• 
  2x complete dossiers without confidential parts in electronic format (CD/DVD).
  

This means that in total 4 CDs have to be submitted to the Commission, namely 2 CDs for the complete dossier containing the confidential information and 2 CDs for the dossier without confidential information. If no confidential information is claimed only 2 CDs are requested.

The structure of an application shall follow the structure of the checklist (see chapter 3.1).

2.1.1Accompanying letter

The accompanying letter shall summarise in a few sentences the request of an applicant. It shall be sent together with a dossier to the address laid down in the chapter 2.1.8 of this guidance.

The accompanying letter shall be drafted in accordance with the model provided in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 234/2011. Different model letters are provided for an application for food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings.

2.1.2Technical dossier

The technical dossier shall consist of the administrative data, the data required for risk assessment and the data required for risk management.

In case of an application for a new substance authorisation a full package of data (administrative, risk assessment, risk management data) is required. However, in application of Article 12.6 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011, an application may be considered as valid even if it does not contain all data required provided the applicant submits a verifiable justification for each missing element.

In case of an application for modification of the conditions of use of an already authorised substance, the data for risk assessment may not be required. However, the applicant shall submit a verifiable justification why the proposed changes do not affect the results of the existing risk assessment.

In case of an application for modification in specifications of an already authorised substance the data may be limited to the justification of the request, the description of the proposed changes and a verifiable justification that the changes do not affect the results of the existing risk assessment.

2.1.2.1Administrative data

Applicants shall comply with the requirements of Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011. In addition, a separate sheet (copy) of administrative data shall be provided.

2.1.2.2Risk assessment data

All applications shall follow the requirements of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011. In addition, specific data required for risk assessment are needed for:

• 
  Food additives applications which shall follow the requirements of Article 6 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011.
  

More details are given in EFSA scientific opinion on data requirements for the evaluation of new food additive applications (see References). According to this scientific opinion EFSA will establish standard templates for the different sections of the dossier and for the reporting of the toxicological studies. Once established, these templates should be used.

As regards the dietary exposure assessment requested for both risk assessment as well as risk management (see the checklist for food additive applications – the sections 2.2.8 and 2.3.7) the applicants are advised to use the ‘Food additives intake model’ (FAIM). This is a screening exposure assessment tool specifically developed by EFSA, to support the calculation by applicants of estimates of exposure to the food additive (see References).

In July 2012 EFSA issued Guidance for submission for food additive evaluation (see References) which provides a detailed description of the data requirements and their context, and also a description of the risk assessment paradigm applied.

As for the manufacturing process two descriptions shall be provided. The first shall describe the manufacturing process in detail. The second version shall be concise, however, the crucial steps of the manufacturing process should not be neglected.

In case of food additives produced with genetically modified microorganisms, more details are given in Guidance on the risk assessment of genetically modified microorganisms and their products intended for food and feed use (see References).

In case of use of nanotechnologies, the applicant should consult EFSA scientific opinion on Guidance on the risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.

• 
  Food enzymes applications which shall follow the requirements of Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011 as amended.
  

More details are given in EFSA guidance on the submission of a dossier on food enzymes for safety evaluation and in Explanatory note for the guidance on the submission of a dossier on food enzymes (see References).

In case of enzymes produced with genetically modified microorganisms, more details are given in Guidance on the risk assessment of genetically modified microorganisms and their products intended for food and feed use and in the Scientific Report of EFSA on Evaluation of trial descriptions of strains of Bacillus licheniformis and Aspergillus niger genetically modified with alpha-amylase gene(s) (see References).

• 
  Food flavourings applications which shall follow the requirements of Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011.
  

More details are given in EFSA scientific opinion on Guidance on the data required for the risk assessment of flavourings and in Explanatory Notes for Guidance for Flavourings and in technical report of EFSA on Proposed template to be used in drafting scientific opinion on flavouring substances (explanatory notes for guidance included) (see References). The scientific opinion elaborates on information to be supplied with an application for the authorisation of different types of flavourings for which an evaluation and an approval is required according to Regulation 1334/2008.

Different principles are followed and different risk assessment data are required depending on the fact whether a new flavouring substance can be assigned to one of the existing Flavouring Group Evaluations or not, depending on the type of flavouring (flavouring substance, flavouring preparations, thermal process flavourings, flavour precursors, other flavourings and source material), depending on the level of exposure, etc. Therefore, it is essential that applicants are familiar with the EFSA guidance document.

In case of flavourings produced with genetically modified microorganisms, more details are given in Guidance on the risk assessment of genetically modified microorganisms and their products intended for food and feed use. (see References).

In case of use of nanotechnologies, the applicant should consult EFSA scientific opinion on Guidance on the risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.

2.1.2.3Risk management data

• 
  Food additives applications shall follow the requirements of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011
  
• 
  Food enzymes applications shall follow the requirements of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011
  

The guidance document on criteria for categorisation of food enzymes (see References) provides criteria for determining the status of a food enzyme either as an ingredient or as a processing aid in a given context of use. This guidance may help applicants to complete the risk management data in the food enzyme applications.

• 
  Food flavourings applications shall follow the requirements of Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 234/2011.
  

In the context of Article 11, it is important to highlight the following:

Article 11 (a) the identity: special attention shall be paid to information on the configuration of the flavouring substance (stereoisomerism).

Article 11 (b) organoleptic properties:

• 
  organoleptic properties of the substance shall be demonstrated by providing a sensory profile of the substance in question
  
• 
  description shall be provided if the substance has flavour modifying properties (see References)
  

2.1.3Summary of the dossier

The summary shall follow the same order as described for the technical dossier. It shall include details of each part of the documents submitted to support the application and address all the different parts with reference to the relevant sections and pages of the dossier.

It shall include also a reasoned statement that the use of the product complies with the conditions of the relevant sectoral food law, i.e.:

• 
  Articles 6, 7 and 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 (food additives applications)
  
• 
  Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1332/2008 (food enzymes applications)
  
• 
  Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 (food flavourings applications)
  

The applicant shall propose an overall conclusion on the safety of the proposed uses of the substance. The overall evaluation of potential risk to human health shall be made in the context of known or likely human exposure.

2.1.4Public summary of the dossier

The target group of a public summary is a non-professional public. The structure and content of the public summary shall be elaborated accordingly. The document should be less extensive comparing to the summary of the dossier and should indicate what added value brings the authorisation for consumers. A scientific/professional terminology shall be avoided if possible.

2.1.5Checklist

The applicant has to fill in and submit the checklist in order to verify that the dossier is complete. The checklist shall be drafted in accordance with the model provided in the Annex to this guidance.

2.1.6CD/DVD

The applicant shall submit a dossier with the full information on standard electronic media such as CD ROMs or DVDs. Two or three CD ROMs or DVDs shall be submitted (see chapter 2.1.8). If a full paper copy of the dossier is requested (see chapter 2.1.8), it has to be declared by the applicant on a separate sheet or in the accompanying letter that the electronic and the paper versions are identical. Common electronic formats should be used (e.g. MS Office, Adobe Acrobat Reader) allowing content copying and printing (no content copy protection). The text of the files should be searchable using the search facilities of standard software packages. The CD or DVD shall be structured in folders that reflect the structure of the submission.

2.1.7List of parts of the dossier requested to be treated as confidential

Applicants have the right to request a confidential treatment of certain information. They shall indicate which sections and data they wish to be treated as confidential and give verifiable justification for each part for which a confidential treatment is required following the provisions on confidentiality as laid down in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008.

If an applicant requests that some parts of the dossier are to be treated as confidential then these parts have to be specified in a separate list with the accompanying justification. General requests for confidentiality will not be accepted.

Furthermore, the applicant shall provide the Commission with two electronic versions of the dossier, namely the complete dossier and a second version of the complete dossier without confidential information. Paper copy may be requested (see chapter 2.1.8).

2.1.8Submission of an application

Applications shall be submitted by registered post to the following contact address:

Frans Verstraete, Acting Head of Unit

European Commission

Health and Food Safety Directorate-General

Directorate E – Safety of the food chain

Unit E2 – Food Processing Technologies and Novel Foods

B-1049 Brussels

Food additives

One full paper copy (Commission's copy) and two electronic copies (EFSA and Commission) of the dossier are required for food additives.

Food enzymes

Two electronic copies (EFSA and Commission) and one simplified paper copy of the dossier (Commission's copy) namely, accompanying letter, summary of the dossier and confidential information has to be provided.

Food flavourings

Three electronic copies (1 for EFSA and 2 for the Commission) and one simplified paper copy of the dossier (Commission's copy) namely, accompanying letter, summary of the dossier and confidential information has to be provided.

In case of specific enquiries applicants can contact the Commission also via:

Email: [e-mail]

[e-mail]

[e-mail]